A 15 year-old student was ask to write an op-ed on the topic of gay adoption. He wrote in opposition to the topic using the Bible as his primary source for the basis of his argument. A gay parent saw the op-ed and complained and thus the student was bullied by the superintendent and threatened with suspension because of his ‘offense’.

[Brandon] Wegner, a student at Shawano High School, was asked to write an op-ed for the school newspaper about whether gays should be allowed to adopt. Wegner, who is a Christian, wrote in opposition. Another student wrote in favor of allowing gays to adopt.

Wegner used Bible passages to defend his argument, including Scripture that called homosexuality a sin.

After the op-ed was published, a gay couple whose child attend s the high school, complained.

The school immediately issued an apology – stating Wegner’s opinion was a “form of bullying and disrespect.”

“Offensive articles cultivating a negative environment of disrespect are not appropriate or condoned by the Shawano School District,” the statement read. “We sincerely apologize to anyone we may have offended and are taking steps to prevent items of this nature from happening in the future.”

But Staver said what the school system did next was absolutely outrageous. He said the 15-year-old was ordered to the superintendent’s office where he was subjected to hours of meetings and was accused of violating the school’s bullying policy.

“The superintendent called him ignorant and said he had the power to suspend him,” Staver said. “He’s using his position to bully this student. This is absolutely the epitome of intolerance.”

Staver said the boy’s parents were never notified.

At one point, Staver said the superintendent gave him a chance to say he regretted writing the column.

“When Mr. Wegner stated that he did not regret writing it, and that he stood behind his beliefs, Superintendent Carlson told him that he ‘had got to be one of the most ignorant kids to try to argue with him about this topic,’” Staver said.

At that point, Staver said the superintendent told the boy that “we have the power to suspend you if we want to.”

The superintendent allegedly told Wegner that he was personally offended by Wegner’s column.

I read his op-ed and while it isn’t the best opposition argument that one could make on the topic, it certainly doesn’t justify the superintendent’s actions. I believe the primary concern was his first quote from Leviticus that said “they shall surely be put to death.” Now, if I had written it and included that verse, I would have immediately qualified that (if I included it at all) by noting that we don’t live under the law of the old testament any longer and this certainly isn’t a call for anyone’s death. But even so, it’s clear by the full context of his writing that he isn’t calling for anyone’s death and only the dumbest of libs would try and make such an argument.

Also, one other point that I think is good. Note the apology from the school:

The school immediately issued an apology – stating Wegner’s opinion was a “form of bullying and disrespect.”

Isn’t this true of how liberals see dissent of most of their sacred issues? Not only is dissent offensive to them, but they say it’s disrespectful. Isn’t that exactly what libs claimed after Obama was elected? Any dissent aimed at him was racist and disrespectful.

Thus this rule should typically work: Dissent against liberal ideas is disrespectful; dissent against conservative ideas is speaking truth to power.

Barack Obama’s 2008 Iowa New Media Director was arrested Friday for attempting to use the identities of Secretary of State Matt Schultz, and/or his brother Thomas, with the intent to falsely implicate the Secretary Schultz in illegal or unethical behavior. Zach Edwards, 29, of Des Moines, currently works for Link Strategies, a Democrat-affiliated organization with ties to Iowa Senator Tom Harkin. Edwards is the Director of New Media for Link Strategies.

The Secretary of State’s office discovered the alleged crime and reported it to authorities. Edwards turned himself in to the Iowa DCI agents Friday afternoon. He was charged with identity theft, a misdemeanor, and booked into the Polk County jail. Edwards posted $2,000 bail and was released later on Friday. He faces up to two years in prison.

Zach Edwards’ bio on Link Strategies website says he joined the Obama campaign in early 2007 as an intern in Nevada. He eventually joined the New Media department and directed their operations in five other primary states. He was the Iowa Director of New Media for Barack Obama’s general election campaign. After the election, Edwards joined Link Strategies, “where he provides innovative web-based research tools, video analysis and production, and web-based communication tools to assist our clients,” according to the bio.

Those clients include Iowa Senator Tom Harkin. On the Link Strategies testimonial page, Harkin credits Link Strategies for his electoral success. “The folks at Link Strategies have been helping me win campaigns since 1996. Whether it is managing campaigns or handling research, their specialty is doing quality work while finding smart, creative solutions to problems. In a tough fight, there is no question that I want Link Strategies in my corner.”

Jeff Link, the founder of Link Strategies, ran the Gore-Lieberman presidential campaign in Iowa in 2000. He managed Tom Harkin’s 2002 and 2008 reelection campaigns. Link also served as a media consultant for Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign.

Since his surprise victory over incumbent Michael Mauro in November 2010, Secretary of State Schultz has been a target of the Iowa Democratic Party. Interestingly, on June 24, the same day as Zach Edwards alleged crime, Under the Golden Dome, a blog connected to Iowa Democrats, launched a three-part series of articles critical of Matt Schultz. They were based on documents obtained through an open records request from “a tipster.” The blog alleged that a batch of emails from Schultz’s office “raise some serious questions about his ability to remain independent and ensure election integrity”.

Media was all abuzz with the impending end of Gov. Rick Perry’s 2012 presidential bid leading up to his formal announcement at 11:00 AM on Thursday January 26, 2012. In his more than 20 minute announcement, Perry gave a speech that embodied his campaign style and platform.

Stating that “what’s broken in America is our politics,” Perry led up to his formal endorsement of Newt Gingrich calling him a “visionary who can transform this country” with the “heart of [a] conservative reformer” who has the “courage to tell Washington interests to ‘take a hike’.”

With full grace and a strong stance, Gov. Perry recalled former Texas Gov. Houston by saying, “I know when it’s time to take a strategic retreat.” Vowing to continue to support conservative values and principles, and reminding his supporters that “President Obama’s road is a very dangerous one,” Perry stated that he will be heading back to Texas with his wife Anita by his side knowing that “with a loving God, things gonna be good no matter what” he does.

And while the conservative portion of the GOP presidential field is now narrowed even further, and conservatives are now vying for a spot behind the remaining candidates, it is hopeful that Gov. Perry’s message resonates with the voters… “The mission is greater than the man.”

Question at town hall: “What I’ve been looking for in my candidate is fire in the belly. We’ve got to bloody Obama’s nose. You’ve mentioned challenging him to seven, three-hour debates. He has this armor of media surrounding him. If he doesn’t agree to that, how do you plan to aggressively take the gloves off and go after him?”
Newt Gingrich: “Let me say first of all, I don’t want to argue with you about the analogy. I don’t want to bloody his nose, I want to knock him out.”

REDLANDS, CA – In a calculated attempt to appease his supporters, Congressman Ron Paul announced on Saturday that his campaign had procured all remaining tickets to the popular Southern California music festival, Coachella.

“Everywhere I go across the country, my supporters ask me the same questions: When will we pull out of Afghanistan, how will you bring down our nation’s debt, and can you get us tickets to Coachella?” Paul continued, “I’m the only candidate in this race with a plan to do all of those things.”

“Our plan is to scalp the tickets at Coachella,” explained Paul’s campaign manager John Tate. “But we’re only selling them to tried and true Paul supporters. If you can’t explain what the Gold Standard is, you isn’t getting a ticket.”

Paul’s campaign website crashed within minutes of the announcement, as a flurry of would-be supporters flocked to the site looking for tickets. “I’ve never voted in my life, but when I learned he had tickets, I was like, ‘where do I register?’” said Dan Santini, a self-described “employee of Mother Earth” from San Jose. As for how Paul was able to get any tickets to the sold out event, he was reportedly able to cozy up to retiring Congressman Jerry Lewis – who represents the Coachella Valley – and was given exclusive privileges over the public on discounted tickets. “I’m retiring, so what do I care?” remarked the 77 year-old Lewis.

The idea to acquire and distribute Coachella tickets is a stroke of genius on the part of the Paul campaign, as even the candidate admits, “Libertarians, by and large, are just Republicans who want to take drugs and listen to music.”

BEIJING – Gov. Mitt Romney was the guest of honor Friday at the ribbon cutting ceremony for what will be the nerve center of his entire 2012 presidential campaign organization – a 150,000 sq. ft. warehouse in China’s capital city. Romney looked on with pride as 5,000 Chinese factory workers marched inside the colossal structure to begin their 15-hour workday, manufacturing ‘Romney Job Creator #1!!’ bumper stickers and calling registered Republicans in key South Carolina counties. “These workers represent what this campaign is all about – people coming together in spite of government regulations and labor laws to elect the only person in this race with private sector experience,” said Romney, who shuttered his former campaign headquarters in Boston as well as all his state and local campaign offices to consolidate his operation in Beijing.

Back in Boston, former Romney campaign volunteers remained outside their former workplace, gathered around steel drums packed with burning Romney yard signs for warmth, banking on the off chance that another candidate might arrive and put them back to work. “It’s unfortunate, but I have to believe Governor Romney had our best interests in mind when he shipped our jobs to China,” said Lucy Kearns, 40, a former Romney phone bank operator-turned-vagrant. “If it’s good for the bottom line, that’s what counts.” Though there is speculation that Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren is eyeing the old Romney HQ for her campaign, Kearns flatly dismissed the notion of working for, “a Communist.” Before departing from his new campaign headquarters, Romney offered a final defense for his controversial decision, explaining, “This is just what’s best for the campaign right now. And campaigns – like corporations and other faceless, sexless concepts – are people, too.”

[TRANSCRIPT] One hundred and twenty metres above the ground, an unmanned drone uses its heat seeking camera to help a policeman track down a suspect. A pilot on the ground is using a laptop and joystick to fly the drone by remote control. He directs his colleague in the search. The live video signal is coming from an aircraft called a Shadow Hawk which Deputy Chief Randy McDaniel of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s office says will be a powerful tool for all kinds of police work. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHIEF DEPUTY SHERIFF, RANDY MCDANIEL, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TEXAS, SAYING: “As a law enforcement agency, not only do we have to deal with criminal activities, we also have to go hunt for the missing child, the Alzheimer’s patient that has wandered off and, again we can take this drone and launch it and give us a greater capacity to be able to find those individuals.” Equipped with powerful cameras, GPS, and transmitting technology, the UAV can quietly hover 200 metres over a location – while sending its operators real-time video of the scene. McDaniel says the more they know about a crime scene ahead of time, the safer his officers will be. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHIEF DEPUTY SHERIFF, RANDY MCDANIEL, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TEXAS, SAYING: “The purpose of having the bird in the first place is to be able to protect my SWAT team. That is what it is all about, we are not about getting our SWAT team members hurt and if I have got some technology that I can utilise to provide for greater safety for them – we’re going to use it.” (SOUNDBITE) (English) DOTTY GRIFFITH, ACLU OF TEXAS, SAYING: “This is boys with their toys gone wild.” Dotty Griffith of the American Civil Liberties Union in Texas is not a fan of the drone. She says that apart from legitimate police work, it could also be used to spy on innocent citizens. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DOTTY GRIFFITH, ACLU OF TEXAS, SAYING: “We have concerns that technology is moving at a faster rate than our laws. And we think this technology gives police a lot of leeway for fishing expeditions, warrantless surveillance, and that there is just no checks and balances on the system at this point.” But McDaniel discounts the argument saying the drone will only be used in mission specific situations. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHIEF DEPUTY SHERIFF, RANDY MCDANIEL, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TEXAS, SAYING: “Yes, we can read a license plate from 400 feet in the air. Does that help us? Absolutely. It helps us identify suspects and the vehicles that they are in because we may not have someone close enough to come in and apprehend the suspect.” Police departments in both Miami and Houston have been working with the Federal Aviation Administration to get clearance for drone flights. Police forces in the UK have been using drone technology for surveillance operations since early last year. McDaniel says American cities will inevitably follow suit. Ben Gruber, Reuters.